Brand new OW diver - PADI or GUE to progress?

[Lorenzoid]

Thanks for the info. I thought that there is a 35 USD annual fee to be a GUE member and training happens within that membership?

Nope. Training (i.e., taking courses, getting certifications, etc.) and membership are independent of each other.

 

[Jack Hammer]

GUE is a non-profit organization and you have to become a member and keep membership on an annual basis. Their training is meant to create divers for GUE projects which are quite interesting. This is why they reserve the right to put certain demands on their members. UTD on the other hand is a for-profit model in which you are treated more as a paying customer rather than an Non-profit member. There is no annual fee and agency can make "recommendations" about fitness level, life style etc.

GUE does not require you to become a member or stay a member. They do not force, push, or suggest you need to have membership on divers trained through them. Like most dive organizations, a brief portion of the classroom training will explain what they are and what they do and how to join if you are interested. Unless someone in the class asks for more info after that it doesn't even come up. I wasnt a member for years and it was never brought up at their shops, conventions, or when I took more training.

I am a member by choice currently of them and several other non-profits whose missions I believe in.

 

[EireDiver606]

Thanks for the info. I thought that there is a 35 USD annual fee to be a GUE member and training happens within that membership?

No.

 

[Ryan Mcshane]

GUE. You’ll get more out of one Gue class than you will out of a bunch of padi class’ and it’ll set you up with a solid base that will make any future diving stress free and fun

 

[Efka76]

+1 with John.

The only reason I didn’t do GUE Recreational Diver Level 1 was because I didn’t know it existed. It’s also more fun and much much safer.

And quite frankly, I have no idea what to say about this...

This is extract from official GUE document (pre-requisites for Tech 1 diver):

Applicants for a Technical Diver Level 1 course must:
a. Submit a completed Course Registration Form, Medical History Form, and Liability Release Form to GUE HQ.
b. Be physically and mentally fit.
c. Hold insurance that will cover diving emergencies such as hyperbaric treatment, e.g. DAN Master-level insurance or equivalent.
d. Be a nonsmoker.
e. Obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for the use of prescription drugs, except for birth control, or for any medical condition that may pose a risk while diving.
f. Be a minimum of 18 years of age. Documented parental or legal guardian consent must be submitted to GUE HQ when the participant is a minor. g. Have earned a GUE Fundamentals - Technical certification.
h. Must have a minimum of 100 logged dives beyond autonomous entry-level scuba diver (or equivalent).

Please read (d). Next time please read GUE rules before commenting.....

 

[EireDiver606]

This is extract from official GUE document (pre-requisites for Tech 1 diver):

Applicants for a Technical Diver Level 1 course must:
a. Submit a completed Course Registration Form, Medical History Form, and Liability Release Form to GUE HQ.
b. Be physically and mentally fit.
c. Hold insurance that will cover diving emergencies such as hyperbaric treatment, e.g. DAN Master-level insurance or equivalent.
d. Be a nonsmoker.
e. Obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for the use of prescription drugs, except for birth control, or for any medical condition that may pose a risk while diving.
f. Be a minimum of 18 years of age. Documented parental or legal guardian consent must be submitted to GUE HQ when the participant is a minor. g. Have earned a GUE Fundamentals - Technical certification.
h. Must have a minimum of 100 logged dives beyond autonomous entry-level scuba diver (or equivalent).

Please read (d). Next time please read GUE rules before commenting.....

You misinterpreted what I said.

I know you can’t be a smoker in GUE. I AM a GUE diver, so thanks for that.

I was simply commenting on how absurd it is and how stupid it is to be a smoker and diver but especially a technical diver. It’s crazy.

 

[leadduck]

Wow I had no idea I was about to start a faction war... XD

ah you don't, just kidding. I'm not a GUE member but have a few GUE trained buddies and enjoy diving with them. Take Fundies, it's good.

One big warning however: don't become overambitious. I have buddies who progressed really fast for my taste. Decided to become a technical diver right after OWD, did Fundies asap, practiced a lot, tech pass on first try. You see them in full DIR gear, double tanks, tank lamp, decided on their T1 instructor and class already, practicing with stages and DPV, just one year after OWD. Took T1 with a lot of local diving but only some 20 ocean dives under their belt, but yet passed it on first try.

I've thought for a long time that people become technical divers when they get bored after hundreds of reef bimbles, but after getting in contact with local GUE divers and meeting others on boat trips, now I think many decide for the black art right after OWD and this is a fast growing segment. But some fast-track overambitious' tek divers' lack of experience shows, and I also saw a lot of trouble with them. In only some 25 dives I did on boat trips and locally with recently certified GUE divers, I saw four OOG situations where a diver needed his buddies' help, two of them quite near misses. This was way worse than I had expected, and I blame the trouble not on their training but on diving beyond training level and comfort zone.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
I've thought for a long time that people become technical divers when they get bored after hundreds of reef bimbles, but after getting in contact with local GUE divers and meeting others on boat trips, now I think many decide for the black art right after OWD and this is a fast growing segment. . . .

You're probably right that new divers fixated on "tech" is fast growing segment, but I think there are still plenty of us who enjoyed a couple of hundred post-Fundies reef bimbles before catching the bug.

 

[seeker242]

Thanks for the info. I thought that there is a 35 USD annual fee to be a GUE member and training happens within that membership?

There is a one time registration fee, which varies depending on the class, in addition to whatever the instructor is charging for the class. For fundamentals, it's $95.

How much is a course registration fee? | Global Underwater Explorers

 

[Lorenzoid]

There is a one time registration fee, which varies depending on the class, in addition to whatever the instructor is charging for the class. For fundamentals, it's $95.

Right, but just to be clear, the GUE course registration fee has nothing to do with the GUE membership fee.